Stock Market Today: Live Updates | Wilnesh News

RSE Ventures CEO and co-founder Matt Higgins said on CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia” program on Thursday that the Federal Reserve is unlikely to cut interest rates three times this year, and his view is inconsistent with the Federal Reserve’s signals and market expectations.

He added that a rate cut would “definitely not be considered” and would most likely come later this year.

The Federal Reserve said on Wednesday it would cut interest rates three times in 2024, while keeping rates unchanged at its most recent meeting.

“If unemployment doesn’t start to rise and core inflation doesn’t see more downward pressure, I’m not sure there will be three rate cuts in the second half of the year,” Higgins said.

——Dylan Butts

Spot gold hit above $2,200 an ounce on Thursday, hitting a new high after the Federal Reserve reiterated plans to cut interest rates three times this year. Gold prices still have more room to rise.

Aakash Doshi, Citi’s head of commodity research for North America, told CNBC that prices could rise to $2,300 per ounce in the second half of 2024, especially against the backdrop of expectations that the Federal Reserve may cut interest rates in the second half of 2024.

Robin Tsui, Asia Pacific gold strategist at State Street Bank, wrote in a report on March 21 that he expects gold prices to hit $2,400 an ounce once the Fed begins to turn.

——Li Yingshan

Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index On Wednesday, the index reached a new high, rising to a maximum of 40,642.89 points and surpassing its historical closing high of 40,109.23 points.

The rally was driven by cyclical consumer and industrial stocks, as well as improved business sentiment in Japan and improved February export data.

The index’s biggest gainers were semiconductor companies samco rose 5.42%, followed by fintech companies Rakuten Groupup 3.65%.

New Zealand fell into a technical recession last year as gross domestic product (GDP) fell. Shrink 0.1% Season 4 of 2023 compared to the previous season.

This was an unexpected contraction, as economists polled by Reuters had expected growth of 0.1%.

The contraction came after GDP fell 0.3% in the quarter to September 2023, meaning the country has contracted for two consecutive quarters – the generally accepted definition of a technical recession.

New Zealand’s GDP increased by 0.6% year-on-year, a growth rate lower than the 1.3% in the third quarter.

— Lim Hui Jie

this Russell 2000 The index rose nearly 2% on Wednesday, its best daily gain in more than a month, and Tom Lee of Fundstrat Global Advisors sees further gains for the small-cap benchmark.

Lee, head of research at Fundstrat, said on CNBC’s “Last Call” that in terms of relative value, small-cap stocks are back to 1999 levels, which was “the starting point of 12 years of outperformance.”

“I think that means the Fed will take a dovish pause, CEOs will become more confident, it means M&A and IPOs and people looking to other sectors – I do think the Russell Index will It could go up 50%.” Indeed, the Fed kept interest rates steady at the end of its March meeting on Wednesday and maintained its forecast for three rate cuts in 2024, pushing the major averages to record closing prices.

He added that the Russell 2000 could be boosted by a number of factors this year, noting that companies making money in the small-cap index are trading at about 11 times earnings. “It’s a huge PE story, but it’s also a Price-to-book story.” The benchmark also has a heavy biotech weight, and financial companies within the Russell 2000 could benefit once the Fed starts cutting interest rates, he said.

“I think the Russell 2000 represents … the best thing that happened when the Fed started cutting interest rates,” Lee said.

–Dara Mercado

Reddit’s initial public offering was priced at $34 per share.

This number is at the top of the expected range of $31 to $34. The social media company is valued at approximately $6.5 billion.

Reddit will make its public debut on Thursday under the stock symbol “RDDT.”

— Alex Harling, Leslie Peake, Jonathan Vanian

It’s not just institutional and individual investors driving share prices higher. Savita Subramanian, equity and quantitative strategist at Bank of America, said in a note released on Tuesday that last week was also important for corporate share buybacks.

Bank of America noted that buyback trends are “reaching multi-year highs,” with buybacks by the bank’s own corporate clients reaching the third-highest weekly level in data dating back to 2010.

The pace of buybacks was also “above typical seasonal levels for this time of year” for the second week in a row, the strategists wrote. Buybacks as % of total so far in 2024 S&P 500 Index Market capitalization totals 0.34%, compared with a high of 0.29% during the same period in 2023.

Bank of America said buybacks over the past 52 weeks as a percentage of total market capitalization were the highest since August 2020, during the first summer of the coronavirus pandemic.

——Scott Schniper

We’re halfway through the trading week, and all three major stock indexes are poised for gains.

this Nasdaq Index This week’s gains led the three, rising 2.5%.this Dow Chemical and S&P 500 Index Both rose by about 2.1%.

— Alex Harling

UBS said the surge in technology stocks may be on “borrowed time.”

Strategist Jonathan Golub said the developments apple, Amazon, letter, Yuan, Microsoft and Nvidia May be short-lived. While valuation is not an issue in this case, he said the end of these major gains for the “big six” stocks has become a matter of when, not if.

“With the Big Six’s earnings momentum rapidly slowing and broader market trends improving, the continued outperformance of these stocks and the resulting narrow shift in market returns,” Golub wrote in a note to clients on Wednesday. “It’s becoming increasingly difficult.” “While the current upward revision supports these companies, the deceleration in future profits cannot be ignored.”

Golub’s call comes amid a strong year for the industry, led by technology Nasdaq Index An increase of more than 9%.

— Alex Harling

Here are some stocks that saw notable moves in intraday trading:

• Micron Technology — Shares rose 13% after the semiconductor company beat revenue estimates and gave strong guidance on the measure. The company also reported earnings per share, although analysts expected a loss.
• Five or less — Shares of the value retailer fell 13% on weaker fourth-quarter earnings and a weak outlook for the current quarter and full year.

See the full list here.

— Alex Harling

Stock futures were slightly higher shortly after 6 p.m. ET.

Dow Jones futures rose 0.1%. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.2% and 0.3%, respectively.

— Alex Harling